By By Nkosingiphile Dladla (2 mins read)
A Durban University of Technology (DUT) student, who was stabbed in the head at a Steve Biko campus lecture hall, has recently passed away.
Sandile Ndlovu had been in the hospital’s intensive care unit for five days and then passed away in the early hours of Saturday, 21st September 2019.
The first-year, industrial engineering student was assaulted and stabbed in the head on Monday, 16th September 2019, resulting to intensive brain damage that needed life support.
On Wednesday, 18th of September 2019, nine students got arrested at DUT, following a violent student protest under the hashtag #JusticeForSandile.
Ndlovu’s passing has brought grief to his family. DUT students are questioning their safety in the university’s premises.
The institution’s student leadership had a meeting with the DUT’s management over safety issues on Monday, 16th September 2019.
Safety has become an area of concern. According to DUT alumna Ntokozo Zulu, Ndlovu is the second student to suffer from the lack of safety after Mlungisi Madonsela.
“Allegedly this incident was a robbery gone wrong; unknown people walked into campus for a purpose of robbing people off their belongings. After Madonsela, Dr (Euvette) Taylor was murdered on campus and now Sandile,” said Zulu.
Earlier this year, Madonsela got shot after a standoff with a security guard from Excellent Security at Open House, a building opposite Steve Biko campus and owned by DUT.
Taylor, a residence advisor at the same campus, was found dead in his room at Winterton residence, Steve Biko campus, according to DUT spokesperson Alan Khan when speaking to the SABC.
Taylor was allegedly murdered by a family friend.
EFF Student Command member at DUT Nokuthula Ntantiso told Eye Witness News that students are demanding the axing of a private security company and the in-sourcing of security guards.
“We are not safe as students here at DUT. Firstly, it started with the incident involving the killing of Mlungisi Madonsela earlier this year, and now there is a student who was attacked, and we don’t know who did that,” said Ntantiso.
Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology Dr Blade Nzimande has called on DUT to make sure that students get the protection they deserve.
In a statement released yesterday, Nzimande said, “Our institutions are a place of teaching and learning and not places to breed criminals and lawlessness.
“I therefore expect the university management to safeguard the lives of everyone on campus including the university property.”
However, the head of DUT security is currently suspended.
In an earlier statement, the minister called for a speedy arrest of the people responsible for Ndlovu’s death.
According to a report by Journalism Iziko, the Ndlovu family had a meeting with the university on Tuesday, 17th September 2019, to ask for a written report on what happened during the attack.
Upon their arrival, the family said they were given a verbal update instead of a written report, which led to them losing confidence in DUT’s management.
DUT management also claims that they have given the police access to the CCTV footage. TOJ
Reporting by Nkosingiphile Dladla. Editing by Gaby Ndongo. Feature image is of Sandile Ndlovu, who was assaulted and stabbed in one of the lecture rooms at DUT’s Steve Biko campus. Image obtained from Facebook.
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